1. Field of the invention
The invention concerns an installation for assembling complementary component parts which combine to form a structural assembly, such as the mechanical components of a door or window espagnolette bolt operating mechanism.
2. Description of the prior art
Mechanical and electrical structural assemblies generally comprise individual component parts that are either pre-assembled into sub-assemblies that are subsequently put together or assembled to each other in succession to build up gradually the final structure. In the case of an espagnolette bolt operating mechanism, essentially comprising two half-shells (back and cover) enclosing components parts such as brackets, shafts, bushes, door-knob hole members, rods and plates, the usual practise is to fit these components together by hand and rivet them. Because these successive assembly operations are essentially manual, they result in high production costs given the large number of manipulations and the time wasted taking up, positioning and assembling the parts. What is more, the assembly time depends on the know-how and skill of the operator, leading to significant variations in the manufacturing cycles and quality, which compromises productivity and profitability. To consider this in more detail, the operative has to take up the first two component parts from receptacles in which components of each category are -.stored loose in bulk, fit them together by hand, insert them into a riveting device to join them together, check that this has been done correctly, take up a third part to join it to the first two, and so on.
These manipulations are time-consuming and fiddly because of their repetitive nature and soon lead to significant reductions in efficiency.
The invention is intended to remedy thee various disadvantages.